“Every day I am amazed”: from MHB to NASA, the fabulous destiny of handball player Maxime Bouschet

From MHB to NASA… When he entered the Montpellier Handball training center in 2014, Maxime Bouschet, 28, did not imagine this exceptional trajectory. “At that time, I just dreamed of becoming a professional player,” rewinds the young man.

At the time, he rubbed shoulders with Ludovic Fabregas, Jean-Loup Faustin, Arthur Anquetil and Alexandre Saidani. So many ambitious kids who will all have careers at the highest level. “I also did some training courses with the French team, remembers the Montpellier resident. But there, it was complicated. I came in the wrong year (Laughs).” Difficult to compete for a right back when, in the same generation (1996), Dika Mem and Melvyn Richardson tumble onto the floor.

The rise to D2 with Frontignan

At the same time, Maxime Bouschet joined the Faculty of Sciences of Montpellier. The kid isn't just a talented athlete. He also has a good head. “I wanted to complete this dual project: get a “pro” contract and a degree (in physics). It was sometimes chaotic but I ended up getting my diploma.”

The MHB, on the other hand, is not yet ready to give him a chance. “I was injured during my last training season. Patrice Canayer then offered me a fourth year at center. I was quite clear about my level. I knew that it would be very complicated for me to play in Montpellier in D1 . I received a few offers in D2, abroad… But I was not interested in the second division.”

It will finally be Nationale 1… with Thau-Frontignan. “It started a bit by chance. I said to myself: “You will be able to continue playing while preparing for your Masters.” And then I found a lot of friends from Montpellier, like Alexandre Saidani or Kevin Mesnard.” This first step aside foreshadows what will soon be the rest of the story: the rise of a club to Proligue, the emergence of a group of friends linked for life and the American dream of a ball child come true.

“My name is Maxime, I would like to work with you…”

2017-2023: nothing stops Maxime Bouschet. Success in sport and friendship is accompanied by flawless academic performance. Bachelor's degree, master's degree and soon doctorate in hand, he is definitely in orbit. “The last year of your doctorate is a lot of work, explains the person concerned. I didn't have time for handball anymore.” But still enough imagination to land the moon: a position in a research laboratory of the federal agency in charge of the American space program (Nasa).

This new chapter is down to unwavering faith, a little luck and a lot of nerve. “It’s 2022. I’m attending a conference in Krakow (Poland), says Maxime. On the last day, one of NASA's top executives was interviewed by local TV.” A little inner voice whispers to him: “Try your luck, go talk to him.”

In English that is still in its infancy, he begins: “My name is Maxime, in six months I will finish my doctorate. I would like to work with you”. Simple, basic. Intrigued, his interlocutor invites him to drink coffee. Forty minutes pass. “I explained my background and left my business card without ever thinking that he might contact me again. And I went on vacation. When I returned, I had a message in my mailbox. At the time, I I thought it was spam, an error.”

“Leaving Los Angeles, I almost had two accidents”

Maxime Bouschet doesn't know it yet but he has just started the longest job interview of his life. For eight months, the “Ricans” will in fact test the little “Frenchy” in all directions, dissect all his work. In video, on site in Los Angeles… “After each interview, no one said anything to me. It was a bit of a roller coaster.” Until a last interview in California on the sidelines of a conference on new infrared photodetector technologies, his specialty.

“It was February 2023. All morning, I answered interviews, visited the campus of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At noon, the man I had met in Krakow told me the good news: “It’s good for us.” It was my girlfriend's birthday Leonie. Leaving Los Angeles, I almost had two accidents. My life had just been turned upside down.”

Since June 10, 2023, the Héraultais has shared his life between Pasadena, where he lives with Léonie (his now wife), in a small apartment with a monthly rent of 2,800 euros, and La Cañada Flintridge where NASA has taken up residence since 1936 . “Every day I am amazed. I work with exceptional people, scientifically and humanly brilliant, in a place steeped in history. I am very lucky. I could never have imagined it”, savors the researcher.

“Trump, on a whim, you feel he can cut NASA’s funds or double its budget”

As is often the case in the United States, everything is not completely neon pink. There is also the other side (hell) of the scenery. Léonie can attest to this. Before finding a job in a French restaurant, she tried in vain to showcase her talents as a midwife, a profession that does not exist in the USA as such unless she returns to very expensive studies.

There is also internal turbulence at NASA. For several years, the Agency has had to face regular budget cuts with its share of layoffs: 600 in February 2024, or 10% of the workforce at the Californian site, and another 400 in recent weeks. The same scenario every time: “We are first invited to stay at home for 24 hours. We tell you the plan, then we receive an email. Either we stay or we are fired. In this case, after 40 minutes, your computer and your account are deactivated. You no longer have access to the laboratory and your personal effects are returned to you by post. It's extremely violent, another culture. admits Maxime Bouschet, who is learning to live with it on a daily basis.

He will also have to learn to work in the Trump II era. With Elon Musk, the boss of Space X, at his side. “The problem is the unpredictable side of Donald Trump. On a whim, you feel that he can cut NASA's funds or double its budget. As for Elon Musk, it's a special situation. Space is both a competitor of NASA and its largest contractor.”

Best player in the USA

And handball in all this? He came back into his life with the desire to exercise physically after work. In the land of basketball or baseball, Maxime Buschet finally found a team in Los Angeles (California Eagles), led by an Argentinian and made up of European or South American expatriates. “We started by playing and winning the California Cup. Then the United States Championship. Then the North American Cup (the equivalent of the Champions League in Europe).” With qualification for the Club World Cup last September in Egypt, against Magdeburg, Barcelona and Veszprém.

Winner of the title of best player in the USA, Maxime Bouschet was unfortunately unable to accompany his partners to Cairo. At NASA, he is entitled to twelve days of vacation per year. “It’s the other side of the coin”smiles the person concerned, aware of his fabulous destiny. “It’s the most beautiful experience of my life but I haven’t forgotten my friends, especially in Frontignan. Say that.”